Hockey
New Covid variant puts Odisha on alert ahead of Hockey World Cup
Could the upcoming Hockey World Cup be affected by the new BF7 outbreak? One case was detected in the host city, but officials say 4 layers of health protocol will be in place to ensure smooth operations.
Fans at the ticket booking line in Bhubaneswar ahead of the Hockey World Cup (Tazeen Quresy/The Bridge)
Even as discovery of the new Covid strain - Omicron subvariant BF.7 - in Odisha has put Hockey India (HI) on high alert with three weeks to go before the Hockey World Cup, officials from the federation said four layers of protocol will be followed at the tournament to ensure smooth operations.
As of now, three cases have been detected of the new strain of the virus, which has the strongest infection ability yet. One of these three cases were detected in Bhubaneswar, one of the host cities of the 2022 Hockey World Cup set to start on January 13.
"The case (in Odisha) was reported only yesterday. HI officials have spoken about it but details are yet to be threshed out. What we can say is that there will be four layers of health protocol surrounding the tournament to ensure it goes on in a protected environment," Bhola Nath Singh, HI secretary-general, told The Bridge.
"All the health advisories issued by the central government and the state government will be followed. Moreover, the tournament will have its own set of health protocol in case a health bubble needs to be put in place. The teams will also have their separate protocol," he said.
The Odisha state government, meanwhile, is developing a health protocol to be followed by players, officials and visitors. This protocol involves elaborate arrangements for Covid testing and surveillance during the Hockey World Cup.
Odisha is in its final stages of preparation for the showpiece event. A total of Rs 1098 crore have been spent by the state already on building infrastructure for the tournament. Streets have been painted in Rourkela and Bhubaneswar with murals of hockey icons.
Over the tournament, 16 hockey teams from around the world will play 44 matches at the two venues, with the final scheduled for January 29.
None of the teams have reached out to HI on the new Covid strain or health protocol surrounding the World Cup, said HI official Bhola Nath Singh.
READ | Sports carnival & more: Rourkela-Bhubaneswar gripped by Hockey World Cup fever
On Wednesday, the Union government held a Covid review meeting, after which an alert was issued to states over the possibility of a renewed surge in Covid cases. This comes at a time when there is a massive surge in Covid cases in China. Cases have also been detected in several countries like the US, the UK, Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.
